In recent weeks, Windows 11 has stirred considerable concern among graphics card users, particularly those utilizing Nvidia GPUs. This turmoil prompted Nvidia to release a hotfix GPU driver aimed at addressing gaming performance issues stemming from the October update. With the arrival of the December security update for Windows 11, new insights have emerged, as reported by OC3D, indicating that AMD GPU owners may have also faced challenges linked to cumulative updates from Windows 11.
AMD GPU Issues and the December Update
A wave of user reports suggests that the December KB5070311 update has resolved several significant problems for AMD GPU owners that have persisted throughout the year. These issues included driver crashes in popular games such as Battlefield 6, Arc Raiders, and BO7, alongside general instability causing AMD GPUs to hang within the Windows environment.
While there is no formal acknowledgment from Microsoft or AMD regarding these fixes, the volume of user feedback indicates a positive trend following the installation of the December update. Notably, one patch note from KB5070311 highlights that Windows 11 will no longer display an “unsupported graphics card detected” message when a compatible GPU is in use.
Interestingly, AMD’s own patch notes for the latest Adrenalin version (25.12.1) mention various application and driver crashing issues across multiple games and GPUs. However, only a few of these issues were addressed, and AMD did not attribute the source of these problems to Windows.
This scenario raises the possibility that both Microsoft and AMD may have been unaware of Windows causing these AMD-related GPU complications. It appears that some changes implemented in the recent security update inadvertently resolved these issues, creating a fortunate outcome for AMD GPU owners who have endured these challenges for months.
Reports of GPU hanging and driver instability have been prevalent since the launch of the RX 9070 XT in March 2025, with the RX 9000 series GPUs experiencing the most significant difficulties, although the RX 7000 series has not been entirely exempt from these problems.
This situation mirrors the earlier troubles Nvidia encountered with Microsoft’s updates. Just a month ago, Nvidia rolled out a hotfix driver that restored approximately 50% of performance in affected games, which had been compromised due to a security-related change in one of the October Windows 11 updates.
For those with modern AMD graphics cards, it may be worthwhile to install the December Windows 11 security update to determine if it alleviates any existing graphics issues. As this update is mandatory, users can expect their systems to receive it automatically within the coming week, if they haven’t already. However, it is essential to note that there is no assurance that specific issues will be resolved, and neither Microsoft nor AMD has officially confirmed any AMD-specific GPU fixes related to Windows cumulative or security updates at this time.
